A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Due to the increased security, the first time the quartet got to talk to Hagrid was during the next Care of Magical Creatures class. To say that Hagrid was upset was a huge understatement. It was clear the half-giant would be sobbing right now if he was not in the middle of a class.
"It's all my fault." He told them, numb with shock. "I got all tongue-tied, and my nerves made me forget all the dates and everything that Hermione and Luna found for me."
"It would have been impossible to win." Neville made sure Hagrid knew. "Not with Malfoy there. I would bet my family's fortune on Malfoy having paid off the committee, so they would sentence Buckbeak guilty."
Luna, who decided to skip her History class, shook her head sadly. "Don't worry Hagrid. We will try to find even more out before the appeal. Maybe I should make some bottlecap necklaces for the committee, it would help clear the Wrackspurts away."
Hagrid looked at Luna in confusion, before glancing at Hermione. Hermione simply shrugged her shoulders. It was not clear if Luna imagined these creatures, believed in them because her mom used to, or if these creatures actually did exist.
"Look at him blubber!"
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle stood off to the side, smirking at them.
"Have you ever seen anything so pathetic?" Malfoy questioned his bodyguards, who grunted in response. "And he's supposed to be our teacher."
There was a clear tension between the groups. Almost as if a ticking time bomb was about to explode. And then it did. Both Harry and Neville made a move at Malfoy, only to be beat there.
SMACK!
Hermione got there before the boys could. Malfoy staggered as Hermione slapped him with all the strength she could muster. Luna's face was full of rage as she pulled out her wand, daring Malfoy to do something in retaliation. It was clear that Hermione was about to attack again when Harry intervened, grabbing Hermione's hand as she looked him in the eyes.
Harry's bright green eyes shined in the light, and had an immediate calming effect on her. It was strange, this feeling. Did she, Like Harry? Her arm relaxed as Malfoy scrambled off with his two goons.
"That foul, evil, little Cockroach!" Hermione spat out, watching Malfoy run. "You had better beat him in the Quidditch Final, because I can't stand it if Slytherin wins!"
"Come on Hermione." Neville motioned for her to keep walking. "We have Charms next."
"Oh I love Charms!" Luna smiled at them. "But unfortunately I have Potions next."
"Good Luck Luna." Hermione called to her, grinning as she watched her walk away.
"She is an odd one." Harry chuckles. "But so am I, so who am I to speak."
"Being odd is better than being boring." Neville grinned. "I mean the four of us are the oddballs in all of Hogwarts."
In charms, they learned about Cheering Charms, which was definitely needed. The three left class feeling better and more cheerful, so they were able to brainstorm ways to acquit Buckbeak in a better mood.
Following that was the most interesting class of Divination Harry had been in. It started out normally enough, with Professor Trelawney Being weird, however when the lesson started, it was immediately weird. The Professor had shifted to examining Crystal Balls earlier than expected.
"The Fates have informed me that Crystal Balls will be on your exam." Trelawney told them. "And if we continued with my original plan, You all would fail due to not being prepared."
"That's bollocks!" Hermione exclaimed. "It is obvious that she writes the exam!"
Both Harry and Neville looked at her shocked, as they had never heard Hermione use that language before. Even Ron, who was sitting on the opposite side of the room glaring, gave a snort of laughter.
The class continued, and Hermione was getting more and more impatient. It all came to a climax when Trelawney had come over to Harry to gaze in his ball. And as he guessed, she saw something alright.
"My dear... It is here, clearer than before... The Gr..." Trelawney started, only for Hermione to stand up in denial.
"Oh not that bloody Grim again!" she exclaimed loudly.
"I am sorry to say that from the moment you entered this class, you do not have the gift for the noble art of Divination. Indeed, I do not think I have met someone before whose mind is so incredibly mundane." Trelawney glared at her.
"Fine!" Hermione burst out, cramming her book into her bags. "That's it! I'm leaving!"
Hermione strode over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and climbed down the ladder. There was silence for a moment, when Lavender Brown had remembered that Trelawney had vaguely predicted this very thing happening. Harry rolled his eyes, as that was probably something that happened nearly every year.
The Easter Holidays were not so much a holiday as there seemed to be a competition amongst the teachers on who could give out the most homework. Neville was able to remain calm and do his with Harry and Hermione's help, and he could then help Luna with her homework. Harry thought that he had a ridiculous amount, and then looked over at his best friend.
She was almost never able to be with the quartet anymore, being the first to leave the common room and the last to come in. She had shadows under her eyes like Lupin did. Despite having dropped Divination, she still had way more classes than anyone else had.
Luna, having the least amount of homework, took full responsibility for researching for Buckbeak. She wrote home to her father to see if he had any ideas. Unfortunately he didn't, as even he knew that if Malfoy wanted something, he would get it.
When homework was finished, he had to deal with the rapidly approaching Quidditch final. Wood upped the practice schedule up to every day, and would not let Harry do anything without making sure Harry knew what to do.
"You must wait to catch the Snitch until we are more than 50 points up." Oliver reminded Harry. "The Slytherin's are winning by 200 points. You must wait till we are 50 points up so we win not only the match, but the Cup."
"I KNOW OLIVER!" Harry yelled at him after the tenth time that practice. Oliver acted like Harry did not know the importance of this match. Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch cup since Charlie Weasley graduated.
The entire school felt the build up of tension however, as fights broke out every day between Gryffindor and Slytherin students. Slytherins were constantly trying to sabotage Harry most of the time however. Wood had given orders that Harry be guarded at all times, and Gryffindor House as a whole volunteered. Eventually Harry grew tired of this and talked with Oliver. He agreed he was being a little too paranoid, and let The Fantastic Four take over Harry's protection.
Luna loved it, as she was really in her element. If anyone got too close to Harry whom she did not approve of, she would bug them like Nargles bug her.
The night before the match was quite eventful. Hermione was even so nervous that she couldn't focus on studying. The amount of energy in the common room would only be outdone if they managed to win the match.
Harry slept extremely bad that night, and kept waking up from nightmares. However, one time after he woke up, he was afraid to go back to sleep. He looked out the window, and saw gleaming eyes in the distance. Crookshanks walked into the light, as Harry let out a sigh of relief. Too soon, however, as moments later, a gigantic shaggy black dog met Crookshanks. He looked around to see if anyone in the common room was awake, and when he looked back, the dog and Crookshanks was gone.
The next morning, three quarters of the hall cheered as the Gryffindor team entered the Great Hall, while only the Slytherins were hissing at them. Wood spent the entire meal trying to get the team to eat, while not eating himself. However, Angelina, Katie, and Alicia were having none of it, as they practically force fed Wood.
It felt like mere minutes later that Harry was walking on to the pitch, his stomach doing loops. Closing his eyes for a second, Harry listened to the way the very slight breeze moved, the cheers from the crowd. He homed in with his senses, and suddenly felt a lot more at ease listening to Lee Jordan's commentary.
The two teams took off, and the roughest game of Quidditch at Hogwarts in a long time began. Angelina landed the first score, which led the Slytherin Captain Flint to smash into her. Fred Weasley threw his beater bat at Flint in retaliation. Madam Hooch issued a penalty to both Teams, and as Alicia managed to make the shot, Wood saved the Slytherin attempt, making the game 20-0.
A couple of moments later, a Slytherin Chaser grabbed Katie Bell's head instead of the Quaffle, leading to another penalty shot and score. The next score was unfortunately a Slytherin goal, causing Lee Jordan to curse violently.
The game continued to grow in dirty plays, until the score was 80-20 in Gryffindor's favor. Harry watched as he saw Malfoy start to zoom after a glint of gold. Harry immediately sped to him, using his Firebolt's superior speed to reach and get the snitch before Malfoy could realize what was happening.
The game ended just like that. Gryffindor had won the game, 230-20, 210 points up, therefore winning the Quidditch cup. The crowd burst into the loudest cheers. The Gryffindor's were all chanting.
"We've won the Cup! We've won the cup!"
The entire house was pouring onto the field, hoisting Harry onto their backs. Harry searched the crowd for his friends, seeing them smiling at him, at a loss for words. Harry was set back on to the ground by his teammates. It was strange, the crowd grew quiet. As if they were waiting for something.
Not noticing this however, were Harry and Hermione. They were staring deeply into each other's eyes, so many emotions running through them. Finally, from somewhere in the crowd, a voice shouted out.
"Just kiss!"
Harry, feeling on top of the world, did not hesitate. He stepped closer to Hermione, wrapped his arms around her, and planted a kiss on her mouth. Hermione responded naturally, throwing her arms around him, and kissing him deeper.
Applause started again, as everyone started talking at once. Harry and Hermione backed out of their kiss, dazed, with goofy smiles on their faces. However it was clear the attention was no longer solely on them. Everyone was looking at the Weasley Twins, who seemed to be holding a clipboard. Even Professor Dumbledore, who was definitely not nearby moments before. He was smiling, and Harry noticed he was even crossing his fingers.
"What is going on?" Hermione muttered to Neville and Luna, who were standing next to them.
"Oh they are seeing who won the betting pool." Luna shrugged, smiling slightly.
"Wait there was a betting pool on if me and Hermione would get together?" Harry questioned.
"No silly." Neville laughed. "You guys have been together since first year. The pool was on when you guys would realize it."
"Who won?" McGonagall asked, grinning at the new couple.
"It seems that the winner is actually Professor Snape." Fred announced, frowning slightly. A lot of groans came, and Dumbledore looked disappointed.
The couple swung around to see the dark haired professor smirking.
"You bet on us?" Harry asked, confused.
"I may despise you with every fiber of my being, Potter, but I am no fool. The romantic tension between you and Granger was obvious." Snape said silkily, however it was obvious he was disgusted by the tension as he put it.
The crowd started to head back into the castle as Harry grinned as he grabbed the hand of his new girlfriend before starting the long walk. As they walked hand in hand, Harry wished there was a Dementor around, as he felt he could produce the world's best Patronus.